Into the Dark

Chapter 12

"...No. Are you serious?"

"Dead serious. You think a guy like me is going to back down from a challenge? Psh... you obviously don't know me too well."

My head was spinning like crazy when two familiar voices brought me back to consciousness, both calm and casual. I fluttered my eyes open and squinted at the sunlight gleaming from a window to my left, meaning it was clearly day now. And while I tried to fully awake myself, my leg and cheek bandaged but still in agonizing pain, the voices continued their conversation.

"How come I've never heard this story before?" the first one asked, noticeably female.

"Hey... don't get suspicious of it just because I've never brought it up before. I've got plenty more where that came from," the second one, a male, remarked humorously.

"You expect me to believe you went up against a whole pack of werewolves? Doesn't that sound a little absurd? I mean, I'd believe you were raised by a pack of regular wolves because whatever runs through that thick skull of yours obviously isn't human," the female voice teased as she laughed lightly at her own comment.

"Ouch... okay. You got me on that one," the male voice replied as he also laughed, clearly not offended by what she said. Then, they both laughed louder.

I finally managed to adjust my vision and focus on the two on my right, using my hand as a shield from the sun. Maeve's crimson hair was the first thing that caught my attention, and then I took notice to Odis's bright smile across from her. The two of them were still laughing when they looked over at me, and both of them smiled even broader.

"Hey! You're awake!" Maeve exclaimed cheerfully as she placed her hand on mine. I tried to return her smile but doing that only made my cheek hurt so my smile ended up being a weak lip quiver. She caught on and pulled her hand back understandingly.

I finally took the time to take in my surroundings, feeling the comfort of a soft mattress underneath me and the feel of warm covers over me. I was in some kind of bedroom, average size, not too big nor too small. There was a window as I had mentioned, a mirrorless dresser across the room, a wooden door at my far right, another door (this one white) beside the dresser, and beside that seemed to be some kind of closet. There were a few paintings on the walls, all of your casual scenery; calm oceans, beautiful, rolling hills and such. There wasn't much to see, not that I cared anyway.

"We're glad you're okay. You gave us quite a scare back at the bar," Odis announced while glancing over at Maeve who gave an agreeing nod. Her look was sympathetic and gentle as she gave a weak smile.

"Yeah... Kade started freaking out, too. He thought you were dead," she chuckled. I tried to smile again but alas, it failed once more.

"I felt dead," I mumbled although the statement was a complete exaggeration. These guys had fought off God knows how many gargoyles and I could barely kill one. In fact, if it hadn't been for Odis, I'd've been gargoyle food. Who knew those things ate people? But thinking about it didn't make me feel any better.

"What about you guys? Are you okay?" I asked, scanning them for any wounds and finding nothing. Maeve waved her hand carelessly and gave that "oh please" look.

"Of course we are. Those gargoyles barely even touched us," she said. "But I can't imagine going up against the leader of em'. I've seen Xur in action and I can honestly say... no thank you."

"Oh please, the guy's nothing but a chump. I took him on and came out in top notch condition," Odis bragged boldly as he displayed a muscular arm for us to see. Like Kade, he was pretty built, but not necessarily my type since he seemed much older.